By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch Stoxx Europe 600 pushes out small weekly rise

LONDON (MarketWatch)--European stocks slipped Friday as investors assessed a round of economic growth data from the eurozone, but the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 managed to eke out a minor gain for the week.

Gross domestic product figures from the eurozone confirmed sluggish activity for the 18-member region in the third quarter, growing by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter, according to the European Union's statistics office. The figure was slightly better than expected.

Germany registered growth of 0.1% in the third quarter, allowing the largest economy in the eurozone to dodge recession, while French GDP expanded 0.3%, coming after a slight contraction in the second quarter. But Italy's GDP contracted 0.1% in the third quarter. On more upbeat notes, Spain's GDP grew 0.5% and Greece posted growth of 0.7%, marking an end to its recession.

The headline eurozone growth figure provided "welcome news that fears of a renewed recession look exaggerated. However, the data will diminish hopes that the European Central Bank will feel the need to take further action to stimulate growth," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, in a Friday note.

Markets: The euro (EURUSD) lost ground after the eurozone data but later recovered traded around $1.2492 versus $1.2475 late Thursday.

The Stoxx Europe 600 ended down 0.1% at 335.63, but the move left the index up a modest 0.1% for the week.

Crude-oil futures (CLZ4)rose intraday, aiding shares of oil companies, though oil prices still traded around four-year lows. The battering of oil prices may persist into the first half of 2015 unless global output is cut, the International Energy Agency said Friday.

Tullow Oil pared its loss to less than 0.1%, Cairn Energy PLC turned higher for a 2.6% advance and BP PLC (BP) reversed course to end up 0.4%.

Mining stocks mostly had a rough session, with recent losses stemming from pressure on dollar-denominated metals prices as the U.S. dollar rose against major rivals. Randgold Resources PLC ended up 1.6%, but Anglo American PLC fell 0.4%, BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) lost 0.3% and Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) slipped 0.2%, paring losses.

Among country indexes, Germany's DAX 30 index logged a turnaround, ending up 0.1% at 9,252.94. France's CAC 40 index rose 0.4% to 4,202.46, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to 6,654.37.

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